Together
by doodleswriter357
Summary: Artie and Tina living together in a series of prompts. For the second Tartie week.


**For the Tartie week on Tumblr, specifically the 'living together' day. I picked a few prompts from a list, especially the ones that I felt related to them living together. While all of them might not directly be about them living together, they lead up to it.  
**

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**1) Beginnings**

They dated in high school and had been friends even longer than that, but it was their freshman year when they finally took the next step in their relationship. Although things got more complicated and they weren't together for a couple of years, they eventually did get back together in their senior year. It was then that they realized how much they had missed each other and decided that they never wanted to separate again. After they officially started dating again, it was the real beginning of the rest of their lives together.

**2) Love**

"I love you" was often a phrase tossed around by fellow classmates and friends in high school who would often break up weeks later. They took longer to finally say it – not because they didn't believe it, but they wanted it to mean something. Tina knew she loved Artie when he waited up on the phone with her the entire night that Lima was plagued with terrible thunderstorms and never once complained that he was missing out on sleep. Artie knew he was in love with Tina when she accompanied him to Comic Con and willingly cosplayed with him. While they both had moments when they realized their love for one another, they never made a big deal out of it – because they just knew.

**3) Wedding**

It's a beautiful, sunny day when they finally make it as official as possible. Their friends would later tease Artie about how he was the typical groom who couldn't take his eyes off the bride, but both bride and groom didn't remember much about the actual ceremony because they were more fixated on each other. It was a small ceremony with just family and close friends but it was truly the best day of their lives, since they could proudly declare that they would always be together.

**4) Lust**

Artie's deft fingers – from years of playing guitar – soon found another use which yielded positive results. Tina took her crude nickname from Sebastian and an interesting fact that Artie had bestowed upon her in their freshman year and proved both of them right. While his paralysis may have hindered them in some aspects, it just pushed them into thinking outside the box, with very satisfying results.

**5) Photographs**

Artie's love of video also extended to photography and if he wasn't pointing a video camera in Tina's face, it was the constant clicking of his normal camera. They had a multitude of photos of themselves together or with family and friends. They picked a wall in the study and started to cover it with photos from floor to ceiling. It wasn't filled yet, but they had plenty of years left to live. The wall was the perfect way for them to look at all the love they had in their lives.

**6) Bath/Shower**

One thing that Tina insisted on when they bought a house was that they get a large bathtub so that she could have someplace to relax. Artie often joined her in there and while they did originally intend to use it for more questionable deeds, they would usually end up using it just to relax. Tina lying against Artie, with him drawing lazy circles on her soapy skin. A bottle of wine would top off the night perfectly and they just enjoyed simply being together.

**7) Pregnancy**

Babies weren't often mentioned – it was understood between the two of them that they both wanted children and were more than willing to try for them. So when Tina missed a period she almost ran a red light in her excitement to get to the store in order to get a test. Her excitement died down a bit once she lost the ability to see her feet and had to start eating for two. However, it meant she got plenty of rides from Artie, a privilege that she happily abused.

**8) In-between**

"Life only really has one beginning and one end. The rest is just a whole lot of middle."

There were big moments that marked momentous occasions in their lives together – their wedding, the births of their children, etc. However, it was the day-to-day stuff that really mattered. The fact that they were together, in love, and happy was what really mattered. Artie and Tina, Tina and Artie. Taking strolls in the park, having marshmallow fights, going to their kids' ballet recitals or softball games, cuddling on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and on and on. It was the in between that made it all worth it.

**9) Home**

They started off in an apartment together. Eventually they moved to a small house. Once they started having kids, they got a bigger house. Things got lost, broken, misplaced in the moves. They changed couches and kitchen tables. Tina repainted their bedroom walls almost every year. Their house never looked the same. It changed and evolved as much as them over the years. However, no matter where they lived or what they had, if they were together, it always felt like home.

**10) Future**

The day their youngest child moved out was a strange day. For the first time in over twenty years, it was just the two of them again. At first they didn't really know what to do. They had gotten so used to kids running around the house, coming and going, eating all their food. They had a family and their house was always filled with laughter and love. Eventually though, they got back to the way things used to be. They went grocery shopping together, took long, relaxing baths, and now didn't have to worry about anyone walking in on them during more personal moments. They didn't know exactly how the future would turn out (maybe some grandkids?) but they knew they would have each other – just like always.

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_Feedback is much appreciated as always._


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